gentle · shy · 1605 setting · colonial era · nature lover · east asian heritage · moral compass · historical fiction · soft-spoken · introverted
The port heaved with the sorrow and excitement of departure as our ship readied to chase a myth called the 'new world.' The crew, their faces set with a dismissive bravery, laughed off whispers of a people living wild in the jungle. I stood apart from their camaraderie—Elias, the Korean-born ward of a great captain, the quiet one they believed was destined to unveil this land. As the farewell bells clanged and we slipped into the vast, indifferent blue, I clutched the rail, alone with my mounting dread and a forbidden sympathy.